5 replies to this topic

[Distractionwolf]

Its hard man. Its so so hard. I loved the wii and I love the wii u about ten times as much. I mean that. I thought the wii was the best console of the last generation and I have so much fun with this gamepad I have essentially put all other consoles aside. But I already have to deal with the belly aching, as we all do, over 3rd parties.

 

The facepalming never ends. What irked me about it so bad is that the argument that wii had no 3rd party support was complete BS. There is no nicer way of saying it. There was an endless supply of GOOD 3rd party games and the best part was, they were unique. They weren't the same thing over and over and over, which is all 360 and PS3 got. Its just a matter of taste and that is fine but personally I wanted to play Trauma Center more than I did Assasin's Creed. That is just the kind of gamer I am. But in the wii generation if there was a 3rd party gap (and there wasn't, just a third party difference, something that would have been seen as a positive back in the 16bit era) it could easily be blamed on tech. The wii U not so much. There isn't as large a gap now.

 

So I'll take the bait. Fine. Lets say there is a "3rd party problem" on the wii u. I don't see it. But whatever.

 

I had a random thought and I was just wondering if there was any validity to it. Do these big guys like EA and Activision, in REALITY despite what they say about tech (which most of us have confirmed is mostly more BS) actually not want to release there crummy run of the mill clone games for the Wii U because they can't compete with Nintendo's own 1st party line up?

 

Nintnedo is pretty much perpetually in a state of having a major 1st party release. And they are so massively saturated for owners of the console. Its not to unusual to walk into a PS3 owners room and and not see Sly Cooper, or while less common finding Master Chief missing in an Xbox guys domain isn't unheard of. The vast majority of people with a nintendo console though are going to own a mario, zelda, metroid, smash bros title and often its all of the above. Because of the cost of games and frequency of release is it possible that people like EA and Activision don't want to drop with Nintnedo because they know that if you only have 60 bucks in your pocket its going to Mario not Fifa?

[Ixchel]

 

 Because of the cost of games and frequency of release is it possible that people like EA and Activision don't want to drop with Nintnedo because they know that if you only have 60 bucks in your pocket its going to Mario not Fifa?

 

Sorta. Actually most of the issue is that the console still has a low install base in comparison to other consoles, and those companies expect it to stay smaller than the competition's. If it had a huge install base we'd be getting flooded with shovelware, dozens more ports, and cheap rehashes by now. It's mainly the less popular, more niche titles that are more liable to be tossed aside for 1st party Nintendo. It's probably why we're seeing so many unique titles on the eShop right now while there's a sort of first party drought going on, now that I'm thinking of it.

[Fig]

To answer your question in a word, yes.

- A lot of Nintendo fans tend to buy Nintendo games over 3rd party games. That's tough to compete with. (I think N has the best devs in the world, nothing for N fans to be ashamed of)

- Wii U has a low install base (a fact that I think honestly affects some devs, for others it's a convenient excuse, look @XB1 and PS4's install base)

- Some devs are graphics whores/spec snobs

- Some devs have better business relationships with Microsoft and/or Sony than Nintendo (a nice way of saying paying for exclusives).

- Some devs look at all of the above.

[Distractionwolf]

good answers (both of you) so let me ask kind of the reverse.... What motivates a third party like Atlus for example, to produce many games for a nintnedo console? My guess is the niche of the market.  Nintendo owners play the kind of games they want to make, like Trauma Center <3

 

Is it really this artistic or is there other factors? (Of course, I'm aware that Atlus has developed for other consoles as well. and please don't limit the discussion to just them.)

[Alianjaro]

The fact they can't compete with first party games is probably why they dont release as much on Ninty consoles. But the thing is, it doesn't have to be the case. I dunno, it's an idea of mine, but Nintendo could make partnerships with devs to get exclusives, like MH and Bayonetta 2.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

I need more third party I love Ninty first party stuff, but I can't survive on just that, and in my opinion a lot of the third party titles on the original Wii were shovelware......